WEBVTT OWNERS DO NOT SAFELY STORE ALL>> OUR FINDINGS INDICATE WE HAVELISA DR. CASSANDRA CRIFASI,HEALTH.THEIR RESEARCH SURVEYED MORE WE FOUND LESS THAN HALF OFWE FOUND THAT AMONG HOMES WITHLISA: CRIFASI SAYS THE STUDYIN 2016, THE MOST RECENT YEAR39% WERE THE RESULT OF SUICIDE.GUN OWNERSHIP AT THE HOUSEHOINCREASE THAT RISK, WHETHER IT’SLISA: 27 STATES HAVE CHILDMARYLAND IS ONE OF THEM.IT’S A MISDEMEANOR TO

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"Our findings indicate we have a public health emergency," Crifasi said.

Their research surveyed more than 1,400 gun owners about the way they store their guns.

"We found that less than half of the U.S. gun owners store all their guns safely. We found homes with children, they were 44 percent more likely to store their guns safely, but that's still only 55 percent of gun-owning homes with children," Crifasi said.

Crifasi said the study encourages gun owners to engage in responsible behaviors to reduce gun violence and injury.

In 2016, the most recent year for complete data, there were more than 1,600 firearm deaths among children under the age of 18, and 39 percent were the result of suicide.

"Gun ownership at the household level increases risk for homicides, suicides and unintentional injury when you have unsupervised access to firearms. It can increase that risk whether it's using it in the home to harm yourself or taking it out of the home to harm others," Crifasi said. "Twenty-seven states have child access prevention laws; Maryland is one of them."

In Maryland, it's a misdemeanor to negligently store or leave a loaded firearm where a child under 16 has access to it. Maryland law also requires locking devices meet state standards or be approved by a state agency for effectiveness.